It's the beginning of March and RoboCup-2001 is fast approaching.
From now until August, I will be sending several news articles letting
you know how things are progressing. This is the first of such news
articles. Please feel free to contact me or the your league organizers
with any questions, concerns, or great ideas that you may have. I may
not reply immediately or personally, but I will take everything into
account.

I look very much forward to organizing the RoboCup that you all
have in mind and dream of! :-)

Cheers,
Manuela Veloso,
General Chair, RoboCup-2001

1. SYMPOSIUM: Remember the paper submission deadline for
the RoboCup International Symposium - it's March 15. Your research and
development contributions are very important and provide the core of
RoboCup.

2. WEB PAGE: Check regularly
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001. The page includes information
from each league and also organizational news. New information is
posted there all the time.

3. VENUE: RoboCup will take place at the Washington
State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle. We (Tucker Balch, Peter
Stone, Raul Rojas, and I) visited the Convention Center a few weeks
ago. Our main RoboCup competition Hall is similar in space to the one
in Melbourne, slightly larger (3,700m2 and Melbourne was 3,000m2, I
believe). There are two main robotics competitions/exhibits halls side
by side, Hall A and Hall B. AAAI is responsible for Hall A and
RoboCup of Hall B. The RoboCup/AAAI rescue competition and the
Humanoid exhibits will be held in Hall A. All the other competitions
will be held in Hall B. We have a nice room reserved for the
Symposium in the Sheraton Hotel - next door to the convention center.
We would like to be able to hold the Symposium in the convention
center. We are working hard to see if that's possible.

4. SETUP: The construction company seems to be very
efficient. I have been in contact with them since September. They now
know much better what is RoboCup. I have shown them pictures and
movies of all the RoboCup events since 1997. I am confident that they
will make a good job. I will post the complete floor plans when all
the details are sorted out. The layout will be very similar to the one
in Melbourne. However you may need to plan on a more crowded space,
as we are expecting an increase in the number of participating teams.

5. FACILITIES: The convention center is beautiful and
has many facilities, including a coffee shop (Starbucks) and a 24-hour
open copying center (Kinkos).

6. ACCOMODATION: Seattle has many hotels, downtown next
to the convention center, and in the nearby neighborhoods. IJCAI
reserved rooms in several hotels. There are also several blocks of
rooms reserved in the student dorms at the University of Washington.
RoboCup participants will be able to reserve rooms at these facilities
by mentioning that they are with IJCAI. ---------> YOU SHOULD PLAN TO
MAKE YOUR ACCOMODATION ARRANGEMENTS AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE.

7. REGISTRATION: Exact registration information will be
available by the middle/end of March. As before, there will be a
registration fee per team, and individual registration fees for the
team leader, for staff members, and for student members. IJCAI and
RoboCup registrations will be separate. However, RoboCup participants
who register also for IJCAI will have a (small) discount in the
RoboCup registration. All the conditions will be stated clearly.

8. TRAVEL SUPPORT: There will be a call for
applications for travel support in May. I am doing my best to raise
financial support to be able to award some travel support to teams. I
don't plan that I will be able to support everyone. I am counting that
you are also trying to raise travel support for your teams next to
your own sources of funding. Please let me know if your institution
would like to sponsor RoboCup-2001 in addition to supporting your own
teams.

9. NEW LEAGUES: Remember that Rescue simulation, Rescue
robots, and Humanoids demonstrations are taking place at RoboCup-2001.
Rescue is a great domain that has already shown the potential to be of
great impact in RoboCup. Contact the committee chairs if you are
interested in participating in the new leagues:

- rescue simulation: Satoshi Tadokoro, tadokoro@cs.kobe-u.ac.jp

- rescue robot: Holly Yanco, holly@ai.mit.edu

- humanoids: Dominique Duhaut, dominique.duhaut@univ-ubs.fr

10. AI MAGAZINE: Check the March (Spring) issue of the
AI magazine to see the ad for RoboCup!
And that's all for now! Have fun! Enjoy your research! And remember
Allen Newell's quote: SCIENCE IS IN THE DETAILS! :-) So I am sure that
we can all extract lots of scientific contributions from all our work
getting our teams ready and make a great RoboCup-2001 Symposium!

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RoboCup-2001 - NEWS Article II - April 5, 2001 - Manuela Veloso
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Hi all,
Here is the second newsletter. It has information about:
- state of the different events
- registration
- accomodation
- media
- plan for new events
- Magazine ads
Thanks for your comments and questions.
I continue to look forward to hearing from you.
As usual, please keep checking http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001 for
more information.
Cheers,
Manuela Veloso,
General Chair, RoboCup-2001

1. STATE OF EVENTS:
Thanks to all the committee members for all their continuing work,
and thanks to all the teams for their cooperation. Good luck!

- RoboCup-2001 International Symposium:
There were more than 80 papers submitted to the Symposium.
This is a considerable increase from years before
(around 60 papers). The papers are currently under review.

- Soccer Simulation League:
The deadline for preregistration for qualification is April 25.

- Small-size League:
The deadline for submission of the team descriptions
for qualification is April 10. There are 30 teams
preregistered.
The space at RoboCup-2001 is planned for 24 teams in this league.
Please try to enter the German or Japan Open, or join teams
from the same country, if possible.

- Middle-size League:
32 teams completed the submission of their team descriptions.
Qualification is now under way.
The space at RoboCup-2001 is planned for 24 teams per league.
Please try to enter the German or Japan Open, or join teams
from the same country, if possible.

- Sony Legged League:
16 teams will participate. Most of the teams, if not all,
received the new Sony robots. They are very cool, and fast!

- Rescue Simulation League:
The deadline for application for participation is April 20.
An updated simulator has recently been released that enforces
most of the fair play agreements. A revised rule set is
now available from the web page.

- RoboCup/AAAI Robot Rescue:
The deadline for registration is May 15.
Please see the Web page for details.

- RoboCup Junior:
We expect several international teams and some from the US.
Contacts with Summer Camps in the Seattle area are being made.

- Humanoid Exhibits:
Please contact the chair of the committee, Dominique Duhaut,
Dominique.duhaut@univ-ubs.fr, if you are interested in
participating.

2. REGISTRATION
Complete information on registration fees will be available soon,
in time to match the end of the qualification of the different leagues.
Note that the IJCAI-01 registration is open. The deadline for early
registration is June 1, 2001.
As a reminder, you need to register for RoboCup, even if you register
for IJCAI-01. You will have a 10% discount in the RoboCup
(individual) registration if you provide a receipt for your
registration to IJCAI-01.
Participants of the Rescue ROBOT League should follow
a separate registration procedure available off the Web page.
The event is fully supported by AAAI.

3. HOUSING
RoboCup participants benefit from the housing packages available
for IJCAI-01. Please follow all of the IJCAI-01 instructions and
forms for student housing reservation. For your convenience,
the student housing form that you need to fill in and
submit is available off the RoboCup-2001 Web page. Note that the
package is for August 5-10, but you can reserve the additional
nights of July 31, August 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10.

4. MEDIA
If you know of media (TV, newspaper, or magazine reporters) who
want to attend RoboCup-2001, please have them send me email.

5. PLAN for NEW Events
In analogy with the simulation and Sony leagues, we are planning
on adding evaluation/demonstration/challenge events to the
small-size and middle-size leagues.
The goal of those events is to give an opportunity to the
researchers to highlight specific research contributions,
and to experiment with the impact of possible changes in
the specifications of future competitions. Please stay tuned
for more news about these new events in the league mailing lists,
so you can address those challenges in your research, in addition
to preparing for the games.

6. Magazine Ads: AI magazine and IEEE R&A
Have you seen the Spring 2001 issue of the AI magazine?
It includes the report on RoboCup-2000. Great article!
It also includes the ad for RoboCup-2001 in the back of the
cover page. If you are not yet a member of AAAI, consider
becoming a member. There are many benefits, including
receiving the AI magazine and registration discounts
at conferences. See http://www.aaai.org
The AI magazine has consistently published the RoboCup
overviews for several years now.
Good luck for all your work!
Manuela

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RoboCup-2001 - NEWS Article III - May 8, 2001 - Manuela Veloso
**********************************************************************
Hi all,
Here is the third newsletter. All the newsletters are available at
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001, under Newsletters.
This newsletter has information about:
- registration
- accomodation
- schedule
- photo schedule
- travel arrangements
Thanks for your comments and questions.
I continue to look forward to hearing from you.
As usual, please keep checking http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001 for
more information.
See you soon!
Cheers,
Manuela Veloso,
General Chair, RoboCup-2001

1. REGISTRATION
Please register now! The first 25 people to register, not from
CMU :-), will have a special gift!
Please go to "Registration and Housing" at
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001 for all the details.
I would like to encourage everyone to register ONLINE. Thanks!
Send me email, mmv@cs.cmu.edu, if you have any questions.

2. ACCOMODATION
Have you already reserved your hotel or student dorms?
If not, please do so as early as possible.
See my previous newsletter and go to "Registration and Housing"
for additional details. It includes a list of hotels in Seattle.
Reminder (from previous newsletter):
RoboCup participants benefit from the housing packages available
for IJCAI-01. Please follow all of the IJCAI-01 instructions and
forms for student housing reservation. For your convenience,
the student housing form that you need to fill in and
submit is available off the RoboCup-2001 Web page. Note that the
package is for August 5-10, but you can reserve the additional
nights of July 31, August 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10.

4. PHOTO SCHEDULE
I am planning on having several group pictures taken. Please mark
your calendar. We will take the pictures in the Hall at a place
that will be well signed.
Friday, August 3, noon - PICTURE TIME
- ALL THE ROBOTS at RoboCup-2001 (we expect about 300 robots!)
- ALL THE ROBOTS and TEAM MEMBERS
- Pictures BY LEAGUE: Robots, and Robots and Team Members

5. TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
Book your flight as early as possible - NOW!
Irene at CTS International will be able to help you, cts@usaor.net
She has discounted international fares!
Please mention that you are a RoboCup-2001 participant.

Thanks for all the work of the organizing committees.
Good luck with all your work!

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RoboCup-2001 - NEWS Article IV - May 18, 2001 - Manuela Veloso
**********************************************************************
Hi all,
Here is the fourth newsletter. All the newsletters are available at
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001, under Newsletters.
This newsletter has information about:
- student volunteer program
- travel and housing arrangements
- travel support
As usual, please keep checking http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001 for
more information. And remember registration is open!
See you soon!
Cheers,
Manuela Veloso,
General Chair, RoboCup-2001

1. STUDENT VOLUNTEER PROGRAM - APPLICATION DEADLINE - MAY 31st
STUDENTS: If you are willing to help with volunteer work to IJCAI
or RoboCup, please apply to the IJCAI student volunteer program.
Do the following:
- Follow the link for STUDENT PROGRAMS
out of the IJCAI-01 Web page http://www.ijcai-01.org
- Important: In your application, state that you are
with RoboCup
If you are selected for the volunteer program, you will get
free registration for IJCAI and also for RoboCup (Symposium
or team member). I will get the names of the selected students
from IJCAI.
Your help will be greatly appreciated.

2. TRAVEL AND HOUSING ARRANGEMENTS
Please remember that Irene from CTS can help you with flight
arrangements, cts@usaor.net
Irene can also help you with hotel arrangements.
Also please book the university dorms as soon as possible.
It's hard to find a better rate than the dorms in Seattle.
These dorms of the University of Washington are quite nice.

3. TRAVEL SUPPORT
RoboCup-2001 will be able to provide some LIMITED travel support.
The application form and instructions will be available soon
on the Web page. Applicants will be encouraged to show that they
approached local sources of funding.

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RoboCup-2001 - NEWS Article V - June 7, 2001 - Manuela Veloso
**********************************************************************
Hi all,
Here is the fifth newsletter. All the newsletters are available at
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001, under Newsletters.
This newsletter has information about:
- registration information, including NEW DEADLINE
- information on batteries
- information on monitors
- customs information
- shipping information
- travel support
- team sponsors
- press conference
As usual, please keep checking http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001 for
more information. And the countdown is now 55 days to the first day of
RoboCup-2001! Good luck with your preparations!
Cheers,
Manuela Veloso
General Chair, RoboCup-2001

1. NEW REGISTRATION DEADLINES
Due to organizational issues and the need for the final setup of the
floor plan, we have to cut the TEAM REGISTRATION deadline to
JULY 1st, 2001.
This means that NO TEAM will be able to participate unless it has
completed a correct registration by JULY 1st, 2001.
Participants to the RoboCup Symposium and not members of a team can
register by JULY 15th online and then at RoboCup-2001 from August 2nd
on.

2. IJCAI/RoboCup REGISTRATION
The registration for RoboCup is separate from the registration for
IJCAI. You need to register for RoboCup, even if you registered for
IJCAI, and viceversa. We will process a 10% discount, if you show that
you have also registered for IJCAI.

3. BATTERY INFORMATION
In order to help participants avoid the problems of carrying large
numbers of heavy batteries to Seattle for the competition, we have
arranged for you to be able to purchase batteries in the US and have
them delivered to the competition site. By purchasing the batteries
by credit card over the Web, you can be sure you are getting exactly
the right batteries for your needs. We will announce shortly a list
of reliable US battery vendors.

4. MONITOR INFORMATION
We are glad to let you know that we will be able to provide computer
monitors - one per team. Please send email to Tucker Balch,
trb@cs.cmu.edu by June 18th, 2001 if you need a monitor.

5. CUSTOMS INFORMATION

1) US Customs advises: get a Carnet for your equipment. A Carnet
is like a "passport" for your robots. They prove to Custom that you
will take the robots with you when you leave. They are distributed by
the International Chamber of Commerce for your country. You will
probably have to pay some money that may be refunded after your trip
for a Carnet.

2) We advise: if at all possible bring your robots with you as
checked baggage. Our team has done this on all of our RoboCup trips
(even the mid-size league). If this is not possible, you will have to
have your robots shipped to Seattle -- I will provide information on
that soon. If you ship your robots, the Carnet should travel with
them.

3) If you do not get a Carnet and you bring your robots with
you. Assign some equipment to each of your team members. If each
person only claims to be bringing in $2000 or less of commercial
equipment, you will likely pass through customs without a problem.
Here is an index of contacts for getting a Carnet:
http://www.iccwbo.org/home/ata_carnets/ata_countries.asp

6. SHIPPING INFORMATION
Dates:

Friday, July 6, 2001
Shipments may begin arriving at the Warehouse

Monday, July 30, 2001
Last day for shipments to arrive without surcharges

7. TRAVEL SUPPORT
We just emailed the application for travel support to the team
leaders of qualified teams. The travel support application is due by
June 28th, 2001.

8. TEAM SPONSORS
We know of many teams that have their own team sponsors. Great! If
you are applying for sponsorship, you may want to use a RoboCup ad
that we put together, available at
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001/ad-poster.pdf

Please note that you can only display team sponsors' names on your own
equipment or your own T-shirts. Display at the Hall is reserved for
official worldwide and local sponsors of the general RoboCup-2001
event.

9. PRESS CONFERENCE
We will have a press conference on Friday, August 3rd, at 10am. Please
inform any interested press of your country of this press conference.
For further information, have the media send me email mmv@cs.cmu.edu

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RoboCup-2001 - NEWS Article VI - July 20, 2001 - Manuela Veloso
**********************************************************************
Hi all,
Here is the sixth and last newsletter. All the newsletters are
available at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001, under Newsletters.
This newsletter has information about:
- schedule
- posters
- receptions
- reminders
As usual, please keep checking http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~robocup2001 for
more information. See you in Seattle!
Cheers,
Manuela Veloso, General Chair, RoboCup-2001

1. SCHEDULE
The Hall will be open to teams on August 2nd, 2001 at 7:30am.
--------------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE DO *NOT* COME TO THE HALL ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1ST, 2001.
We cannot have ANYONE at the Hall on the day of the construction.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoy Seattle until August 2nd at 7:30am! Thank you!

2. POSTERS
We will have several poster boards in the Hall. I would like to ask
each team to bring a poster describing the features of the team and
the main research and development contributions of the team. This
poster could be a copy of the one you are presenting at the Symposium
if you have one there, or it could be a team description one. You are
free to bring a poster of any size up to 3'x3'. Please consider this
as a great opportunity to show your team's features to the IJCAI
participants and other visitors.

3. RECEPTIONS
All RoboCup participants are invited to the following receptions: